Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Cogger, H.G., in Cogger, H.G., Cameron, E.E. & Cogger, H.M. 1983. Amphibia and Reptilia. 313 pp. in Walton, D.W. (ed.). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 1 vi + 313 pp. [81]

Generic Combinations

• Diplodactylus ciliaris (Boulenger, 1885).
• Strophurus ciliaris (Boulenger, 1885).

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, SA, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Burt Plain (BRT), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Ranges (CR), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Dampierland (DL), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Finke (FIN), Gibson Desert (GD), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Northern Kimberley (NK), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Tanami (TAN), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB)

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, desert, hummock grassland, low open shrubland, nocturnal, open forest, oviparous, tall shrubland.

Extra Ecological Information

In clumps of spinifex.

General References

Cogger, H.G., in Cogger, H.G., Cameron, E.E. & Cogger, H.M. 1983. Amphibia and Reptilia. 313 pp. in Walton, D.W. (ed.). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 1 vi + 313 pp. [81] (subspecies not identified in Cogger et al. (1983: 81), in which Diplodactylus ciliaris was recognised as the valid name and Cogger listed synonyms)

Kluge, A.G. 1967. Systematics, phylogeny, and zoogeography of the lizard genus Diplodactylus Gray (Gekkonidae). Australian Journal of Zoology 15: 1007-1108 (taxonomy)

Pianka, E.R. & Pianka, H.D. 1976. Comparative ecology of twelve species of nocturnal lizards (Gekkonidae) in the Western Australian desert. Copeia 1976: 125-142 (ecology)

Rosenberg, H.I. & Russell, A.P. 1980. Structural and functional aspects of tail squirting: a unique defense mechanism of Diplodactylus (Reptilia: Gekkonidae). Canadian Journal of Zoology 58: 865-881 (tail squirting)

Common Name References

CAVS 2006. Census of Australian Vertebrate Species. Australian Biological Resources Study. (Northern Spiny-tailed Gecko)

History of changes

• Diplodactylus spinigerus aberrans Glauert, L. 1952. Herpetological miscellanea. I & II. Notes on some forms of Diplodactylus. Western Australian Naturalist 3(7): 166-170 [167].

  Type data:

   Holotype WAM R2803, Mt Wynne, West Kimberley, WA [18°06'S, 124°27'E].

Distribution

States

Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Occurs from SW Kimberley to NW coast and interior.

IBRA

NT, SA, WA: Carnarvon (CAR), Dampierland (DL)

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, desert, hummock grassland, low open shrubland, nocturnal, open forest, oviparous, tall shrubland.

General References

Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2003. A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia. Australia : Holland 448 pp. [94]

History of changes

• Diplodactylus ciliaris Boulenger, G.A. 1885. Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). 1. London : British Museum xii 436 pp. 32 pls. [98, pl. 8 fig. 2].

  Type data:

   Lectotype BMNH 1946.9.6.87, Port Darwin, NT.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Kluge, A.G. 1967. Systematics, phylogeny, and zoogeography of the lizard genus Diplodactylus Gray (Gekkonidae). Australian Journal of Zoology 15: 1007-1108.

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, SA, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Burt Plain (BRT), Central Arnhem (CA), Channel Country (CHC), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Ranges (CR), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Davenport Murchison Ranges (DMR), Finke (FIN), Gibson Desert (GD), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Northern Kimberley (NK), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Sturt Plateau (STU), Tanami (TAN), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB)

Ecological Descriptors

Arboreal, desert, hummock grassland, low open shrubland, nocturnal, open forest, oviparous, tall shrubland.

History of changes